In yet another installment of Ant Financial’s global expansion master plan, the company today announced a $200 million investment in Kakao Pay — a soon-to-launch fintech subsidiary of South Korea’s Kakao Corp.

Through the deal, Ant will offer its digital financial services to Kakao Pay’s 14 million members, for starters: Kakao Talk – a messaging platform – currently has 48 million users, which could (potentially) convert to Kakao Pay as well. “Kakao Pay plans to expand its online and offline payment coverage for South Korean users, and in the future, users can enjoy seamless and secured payment experience on e-commerce marketplaces powered by Alibaba Group,” according to a company statement.

With the acquisition of MoneyGram just last month, it’s clear that Ant is aggressively pursuing global expansion plans. But there is an underlying push to the offline payments world, Talie Baker, analyst with Aite Group’s retail banking and payments practice, told Bank Innovation.

I think both of these [the MoneyGram acquisition and Kakao Pay investment] demonstrate that Ant Financial is expanding from the online world of payments to the offline world of payments. My understanding is that Kakao Pay already offers over-counter payments, peer-to-peer transactions, bill payment, web banking, etc., and is planning to offer financial services such as loans and financing. Moneygram also offers some similar services in addition to providing a global network for cross border peer-to-peer payments.

Those deals will also enable Ant’s parent company, e-commerce giant Alibaba, to expand its solutions to new markets, she added, since Chinese consumers will be able to use Alipay globally.

While major card networks like Mastercard and Visa are still clawing their way into China through the regulatory landscape, Ant is pushing to establish dominance outside of its original market.

Should the networks be worried?

“I don’t think [Ant is] yet positioned to eclipse the card networks,” Baker said. “But they are definitely a leader in increasing adoption of digital payment options globally.”

Ant Financial’s Alipay digital payments platform already claims 451 million users, with an average of 153 million daily transactions. The company is reportedly raising $3 billion in debt to fund international investments and acquisitions, such as MoneyGram’s $880 million acquisition.

In what was called the largest private tech raise ever, Ant brought in $4.5 billion on a $60 billion valuation last year, placing it firmly on track to become the largest (potential) fintech IPO.

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